Debate: Police Versus Guards

Well, I'm admitting my astonishment.

Las Cruces Sun-News article - Front Page - March 5 2009

Debate: Police versus guards...

The "debate referenced in this headline is one regarding whether it's wiser to have LCPD or private security guards in the schools. The debate is largely over comparative costs... Most recent contract between Las Cruces Public Schools and Las Cruces Police Department - $427,000.000.

Nearly half a million dollars to have 8 armed police officers and one supervisor present in our middle and high schools.

Are there violent, armed, drugged, criminal youth in our schools? Yes. If I had a son or daughter at risk of being physically and/or psychologically ravaged by these thugs, (or perhaps worse, becoming one of them in self-defense) would I want him or her protected - even if it required intervention by an armed adult? Yes. Is the presence of armed law enforcement in schools justified. Yes.

I don't deny the justification. And, it's not just here in Las Cruces - or New Mexico - it's everywhere. I'm just deeply saddened that this reflects the kind of culture we've created. How did we do this? How did we let this happen?

And, what happens when the money runs out and the kids accustomed to being held in check by armed police, realize they can run amok? Or, perhaps, we'll never be able to stop funding this insane band-aid practice. Perhaps we'll have to continue spending millions of dollars (much needed elsewhere, and harder and harder to come by) to keep our children under guard at school. What sort of nightmare have we created?


My Question - Why aren't we debating how to have a family, a neighborhood, a city, state, country and society that doesn't need armed law enforcement of any kind, in any schools?

Why isn't the debate centered on what's wrong with our culture? What's wrong with a culture that produces children so damaged, disillusioned, disrespectful, angry and violent that the presence of armed adults seems to be an accepted necessity?

How do we fix it? I mean - FIX IT - at the core. That is the debate we should be living, every day, until the solutions are recognized, accepted and acted upon.

Is it just too late? Are we so far down this road toward utter failure that we're unable to turn it around? Do we just resolve ourselves to living in a world gone mad?

Step back once in awhile and take a look at what passes for normal in our culture...